Full Dark, No Stars Common
What it’s about
A quartet of dark novellas that each strand an ordinary person in an extraordinary moral crisis: a 1920s Nebraska farmer who conspires against his wife over a land sale, a writer who survives a brutal roadside assault, a man who stumbles onto a horrifying truth about his husband of decades, and a woman who strikes a strange bargain to escape financial ruin. King probes what regular people are capable of when pushed to the edge — the retribution, the secrets, and the price each act exacts.
Significance Solo Stephen King collection (under his own name) gathering four novellas — "1922," "Big Driver," "Fair Extension," and "A Good Marriage" — three of which were adapted to film, with "1922" becoming a 2017 Netflix feature and "A Good Marriage" scripted by King himself.
How to spot a true first 30-second check
A true 1st/1st needs BOTH the book and the jacket verified. A first-state jacket on a later or book-club book — or the reverse — is a married copy, not a first.
What to look for
- Need BOTH: "First Edition" statement AND the full number line ending in 1 — one without the other is not a trade first.
- Unclipped $27.99 on the upper front flap confirms a priced first-state jacket; a clipped corner hides it.
- Book-Club (BOMC) trap: no flap price, blind-stamp on lower-rear board, no number line, often glued not sewn.
- Cemetery Dance Slipcased/Signed/Lettered editions are genuine but came LATER — not the bibliographic first.
- The 2011 trade paperback adds the "Under the Weather" novella — a later edition, not a first; UK Hodder also differs.
- Watch for married jackets, ex-library stamps, and remainder marks on the bottom text-block edge.
Verified listings marker-checked
Each copy screened against the seller's own photos. ✓ confirmed = a photo shows the decisive marker; ⚠ not pictured = the shot to ask for before buying. Condition grades are as-pictured.
Buyer beware — verify before you buy. These are our screening opinions, read from each seller’s own photographs; we can misjudge a copy or misread an image. A listing marked “1st/1st confirmed” is not a guarantee — independently confirm the decisive book and jacket markers with the seller before any purchase. Authentication and the buying decision remain the buyer’s responsibility.
Genuine trade 1st/1st, NF/VG+-to-NF, unclipped — asking $29.88 sits at/below the F/F band. A fair buy.
- Number line — Full line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" with the 1 present (img 6) — the decisive first-printing tell, legibly shown.
- Copyright — Page states "First Scribner hardcover edition November 2010" (img 5/6); © 2010 Stephen King.
- Jacket price — Front flap priced "U.S. $27.99 / CAN $35.99" — first-state and UNCLIPPED (img 3).
- Dust jacket — Correct Scribner title page (NY/London/Toronto/Sydney) + rear barcode 52799 / ISBN 978-1-4391-9256-6 — trade copy, no BCE stamp.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
Genuine UK Hodder 1st/1st — NOT the US Scribner first; at ~$33 it is upper-mid of fair, shipping pushes it past a US first.
- Number line — Copyright page shows a lone "1" (lowest digit present) = UK Hodder first-printing convention — the decisive tell, shown (photo 4).
- Copyright — States "First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Hodder & Stoughton"; ISBN 978-1-444-71254-4 matches the barcode.
- Jacket price — Front flap £18.99 — correct UK sterling first-edition price, UNCLIPPED (photo 2).
- Dust jacket — UK Hodder cornfield issue (not the US Scribner jacket); rear flap carries the Hodder imprint; printed by Clays Ltd.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
A genuine Scribner trade first/first — both decisive tells legibly photographed on this one copy: the full first-printing number line with the low 1 still standing, and an unclipped first-state $27.99 front flap — though the book is never shown out of its jacket.
- Number line — The decisive book tell, and it is legible: photo 1 shows the full first-printing line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" near the foot of the copyright page with the low 1 still standing at its head, which later printings drop.
- Copyright — Photo 1 also reads "First Scribner hardcover edition November 2010" on that same copyright page — several lines above the number line rather than adjacent to it — together with Copyright © 2010 by Stephen King, ISBN 978-1-4391-9256-6 and Library of Congress Control Number 2010032866.
- Jacket price — The decisive jacket tell, photographed twice: photo 4 shows the front flap printed "U.S. $27.99 / Can. $32.00" at its head, uncut and unclipped, and photo 3 corroborates on the rear panel with "$27.99 U.S./$32.00 Can." over the 52799 price barcode — the "1110" above that block being only a printing-date code, since on this title it is the printed price, not the code, that separates a trade copy from a club edition.
- Dust jacket — Photo 2 shows the correct Scribner photographic jacket — dark, near-black panels with red "STEPHEN KING" and silver "FULL DARK, NO STARS" — and photo 3 the author photograph across the rear panel.
- Endpapers — Photo 4 has the book open at the front, and the leaf beside the front flap is plain, unprinted cream — the trade issue's endpaper, not the illustrated endpapers that belong to the Cemetery Dance limited.
- Binding — The jacket is never removed in any of the four frames, so the quarter-bound black cloth spine lettered red over blue paper boards is unseen — and with the rear board covered a book-club blind-stamp can be neither found nor ruled out — so ask for a jacket-off photograph of the spine and both boards.
- Top edge — Only a shadowed sliver of the top edge shows above the open leaf in photo 4, so the plain, untinted top edge is unverified — ask for a straight-on view of the closed top edge.
Genuine trade 1st/1st in clean NF/NF; the $40 ask lands squarely in fair value — not a steal, not a stretch.
- Number line — Full line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" present, ending in 1 — the decisive first-printing tell, legibly shown (photo 3).
- Copyright — States "First Scribner hardcover edition November 2010"; LCCN 2010032866 + ISBN match the trade first (photo 3).
- Jacket price — Front flap "U.S. $27.99 / Can. $32.00" — first-state, unclipped (photos 2 & 4).
- Dust jacket — Correct trade-first art + Scribner spine logo; no "Book Club Edition" text — rules out BOMC/BCE.
- Dust jacket — Photos are dim; trivial scuffs/scratches on the glossy black jacket could be hidden — ask for a brighter spine/panel shot.
Genuine trade 1st/1st; jacket scuffing + sticker scars put it NF/VG+. At $30 it is right at fair market, no discount.
- Number line — Full first-printing line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" legible with the 1 present — the decisive tell, shown.
- Copyright — Page states "First Scribner hardcover edition November 2010"; © 2010 Stephen King.
- Jacket price — Unclipped first-state $27.99 (rear barcode 52799 + "$27.99 U.S.") — no BCE tells.
- Dust jacket — Correct first-edition art (woman/teal panels) with Scribner flame device on spine; ISBN matches barcode.
- Dust jacket — Sticker scars + cloudiness on the rear teal panel (only 4 photos) — ask for a sharp close-up to gauge severity.
Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references
The Scribner trade hardcover IS the true first edition, first printing. Unlike the early-career titles where a Donald M. Grant / Philtrum / Land of Enchantment small press preceded the trade, nothing precedes the 2010 Scribner trade printing here. The Cemetery Dance editions (Slipcased Gift 1,750 / Signed Limited 750 / Lettered 52) are a separately published, oversized illustrated collector set issued after the Scribner trade and are NOT the bibliographic first. The 2011 trade paperback adds a fifth novella ("Under the Weather") and is a later/different edition, not a first.
First-printing points at a glance
Dust jacket
Dark photographic jacket with black/blue tonality; moody atmospheric cover image (Jeff Bark photograph) fitting the four-novella noir/horror theme. Title "FULL DARK, NO STARS" and "STEPHEN KING" prominent. Rear panel carries blurb/author material. Distinct from the Cemetery Dance set, which uses Tomislav Tikulin cover art and interior illustrations.
Art / design: Front cover photograph by Jeff Bark (credited cover photographer). Scribner in-house jacket design. Author photo on rear panel/flap.
Also watch for: Married jackets (a priced first-printing jacket placed on a club book body, or vice versa) — verify the jacket price matches a true-first body with "First Edition" + full number line. Price-clipped jackets hide the $27.99 point and drop value. Ex-library copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels) and remainder-marked copies (spray/marker on bottom text-block edge) are not collectible firsts. Do not confuse the 2011 trade paperback (which adds "Under the Weather") or the UK Hodder & Stoughton edition with the US Scribner true first. The Cemetery Dance editions are genuine but are NOT the bibliographic first edition — sellers sometimes imply otherwise.
Print run & scarcity
Collector/dealer consensus figure (publisher never disclosed an audited count). StephenKingCollector.com (specialist King first-edition reference) states for the Scribner trade first edition: "A first edition of 1,200,000 copies.
First-state points & errata
No widely-documented errata or distinct first-state-vs-later-state textual point is reported for this title. Identification rests on the "First Edition" statement + full number line ending in 1, plus the unclipped $27.99 jacket. UNVERIFIED whether any minor typo state exists; none is cataloged by the main collector references.
Limited & signed editions
Cemetery Dance Publications limited set (issued after the trade): (1) Slipcased Oversized Gift Edition — 1,750 copies, $75, two-color printing with two-color hot-foil stamping and embossed endpapers; (2) Traycased Signed Limited Edition — 750 copies, $350, leather-bound, signed by Stephen King, satin ribbon marker, embossed endpapers; (3) Signed Lettered Edition — 52 copies, $1,500, bound in two fine materials, gilded edges, satin ribbon, imported endpapers, custom deluxe traycase, signed by King and all artists. Illustrated by Tomislav Tikulin (covers), Glenn Chadbourne ("1922"), Jill Bauman ("Big Driver"), Alan M. Clark ("Fair Extension"), and Vincent Chong ("A Good Marriage"). The Lettered sold out in ~2 hours; the Signed Limited in ~12 hours.
Market value estimate
~$25–$60
Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.
Sale evidence no verified realized price: Dealer-confirmed market (no high-dollar auction record exists for the UNSIGNED trade first because it is common): unsigned fine/fine first printings retail $15–$35 across multiple established dealers (Arundel Books $25, Callaghan Books South $29, James & Mary Laurie $35 — AbeBooks, 2026); a UK fine first (John Atkinson Books) £75 (~$95) reflecting the high end of dealer asking. Signed-by-King true firsts: James Graham $800 (fine/fine, unclipped, signed title page); Bookcharmed Books $1,125 (JSA-authenticated, unpersonalized) — AbeBooks listings, 2026. For contrast, the genuinely scarce Cemetery Dance signed/numbered limited (1 of 750) sells $1,600–$3,000 and lettered (1 of 52) $4,200–$4,500.
No confirmed sale found, so this is rated at no less than its original jacket price — a true first/first should hold at least retail in near-fine/fine condition. Soft estimate from dealer listings (treat as approximate): $25–60 unsigned true first (fine/fine, unclipped); $700–1,100 signed-by-King true first (title page, authenticated)
Book-club edition (the trap): $5–15. Book-club / ex-library / reading copies (clipped jacket, library stamps, bumped) trade at a few dollars. There is no separately printed prestige BCE that commands a premium for this title — the "trap" copies are simply the abused trade printing dumped cheap or, conversely, mislisted at inflated prices. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.
Condition barely moves the needle on the UNSIGNED copy because supply is enormous (2010 mega-print run) — even a flawless fine/fine tops out around $40–60 at a dealer. The value lever is the SIGNATURE: a King-signed true first (title page, ideally JSA/PSA authenticated, unpersonalized) jumps to $700–1,100, roughly 20x the unsigned copy. The single biggest thing that separates a real, valuable copy from the mislisted ones for THIS title is NOT a Scribner trade point (those are trivially common) — it is recognizing which book you actually hold: the everyday Scribner trade first (full number line ending in 1, $27.99 jacket price, Scribner imprint) is worth tens of dollars, while the OVERSIZED Cemetery Dance signed/numbered or lettered limited (leather/traycase, illustrated, signed by King + artists) is the four-figure book. Sellers routinely cross-list the two and price a common $30 trade copy at $300+ asking. Ignore AbeBooks/eBay ASKING prices on the trade copy — they are wildly inflated relative to what these actually sell for.
- https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/full-dark-no-stars/author/stephen-king/first-edition/
- https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/full-dark-no-stars/author/stephen-king/first-edition/signed/
- https://johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk/book/stephen-king-full-dark-no-stars-first-us-edition-2010/
- https://www.cemeterydance.com/full-dark-no-stars.html
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/fulldarknostars.html
- https://auctionet.com/en/2505803-stephen-king-book-full-dark-no-stars-2010-signed-by-stephen-king-limited-edition
Sources
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/fulldarknostars.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Dark,_No_Stars
- https://www.cemeterydance.com/full-dark-no-stars.html
- https://johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk/book/stephen-king-full-dark-no-stars-first-us-edition-2010/
- https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Full-Dark-Stars-Stephen-King-Scribner/32229751865/bd
- https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/full-dark-no-stars/author/stephen-king/first-edition/
- https://stephenking.com/works/collection/full-dark-no-stars.html
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/fulldarknostars.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Dark,_No_Stars
- https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781439192566